Don’t Mime Me: Int’l Festival of Open Air & Street Theater, Gdansk

Maybe mimes aren’t your favorite form of street entertainment. But how about jugglers? Stilt walkers? Knife throwers? Magicians? Actors? Storytellers? You name it, the International Festival of Open Air & Street Theater in Gdansk has it. The 9th annual festival runs this year from July 13-17 and the stage is borderless, so the audience is part of the entertainment.

If you’re too late to see Street Theater, the Gdansk Musical Summer cycle runs from 12 June – 27 August, 2005 . These classical Polish and world music concerts are organised by the Polish Baltic Philharmonic Hall. Some are set in the magnificent scenery of the amphitheatre of the Olowianka Island on the Motawa River that crosses the Old City of Gdansk. Music lovers will also cherish concerts every Friday night in July and August during the 28th International Festival of Organ, Choir, and Chamber Music.

Teeming with history, the Polish maritime capital today has a population nearing 500,00. As a large centre of economic life, science, culture, and a popular tourist destination, this thousand year old city lies along the Bay of Gdansk and the southern cost of the Baltic Sea. For centuries, it’s played a major role in the commercial relationships between Northern and Western Europe, as well as Central and Eastern Europe. www.gdansk.pl/en